The present invention relates generally to the field of protective garments, and more particularly to an improved surgical gown configuration.
Protective garments such as surgical gowns are well known. The usefulness of these garments is generally influenced by a number of factors, such as breathability, resistance to fluid flow, barrier protection qualities, etc. Comfort of the garment is also an important factor. For example, a surgical gown must be comfortable to a person wearing the garment for extended hours.
Factors affecting the comfort of the garment include the stretch properties, softness, and breathability of the garment material. Materials that are soft, stretchable, and breathable are typically more comfortable than materials that do not have those characteristics.
Conventional disposable surgical gowns are commonly constructed from a nonwoven fabric. The gown body section is generally a singular piece of material, or is composed of a number of panels of material attached together, for example, a front panel and attached side panels that also define a back section of the gown. Sleeves are attached to the gown body by any number of known techniques. An example of a surgical gown made using raglan-type sleeves attached to a one piece gown body is the Lightweight Gown (product code 90751) from Kimberly-Clark, Corp. of Neenah, Wis., USA. When a gown of this type is donned and the wearer""s arms are extended outward in front of the torso and crossed, the fabric in the back shoulder area is tensioned and felt as a restrictive force against the wearer""s shoulders. This restrictive force is most often identified by wearers in the area where the gown body fabric joins the back and underside of the sleeves.
A common method to attempt to reduce (relieve) restrictive forces is to incorporate more fabric in the areas placed under tension, such as via pleats, or inserted secondary patches. Another approach suggested in the art is to construct the gown body out of an elastomeric or recoverable-stretch material so that when the fabric is subjected to the restrictive forces (the forces encountered by a non-elastomeric fabric), the fabric elongates. Various elastomeric nonwoven materials and fabrics are available for such purpose, including laminates of a nonwoven web and elastomeric film.
A drawback of making the entire gown body, or entire panel portions, of an elastomeric material is that such materials are significantly more costly, and thus add to the overall cost of the product and healthcare in general.
The present invention relates to a unique method for precisely determining the areas of a protective garment that are subjected to tensile stretching forces so that such areas may be substituted with an elastomeric material.
Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
The present invention relates to a method useful in making a unique configuration of a protective garment, particularly a surgical gown, wherein patches of extensible material are selectively provided in the gown in the areas of maximum stress (i.e., the areas subjected to a maximum stretching force when worn by a wearer). The extensible patch areas are completely surrounded by the remaining material of the gown (generally a non-extensible material) and, thus, may be thought of xe2x80x9cislandsxe2x80x9d of extensible material strategically located in the gown. In one particular embodiment, the predefined areas of stress that are placed under a tensile stretching force when the garment is worn are located in the back shoulder portions of the gown body. It is in this area that the extensible material patches are disposed. In the embodiment wherein the back portion of the gown is open and defined by back panel sections, an extensible material panel is provided in each of the back shoulder portions of each panel.
The method according to the invention allows for relatively precise definition of the areas of a garment that are subjected to tensile stretching force when worn by a wearer under normal conditions. Once identified, these areas may be substituted with elastomeric material. In a process as described herein, the stressed areas may be empirically determined and mapped out on the gown body for subsequent replacement with extensible material patches.
The extensible material patches are not limited to any particular shape. In one particular embodiment, the patches are crescent shaped and generally follow the contour of the sleeve openings in the gown body. In another embodiment, the extensible material patches are generally elongated members having a longitudinal dimension greater than a lateral dimension. The precise shape of the patches can be empirically determined as described herein.
It should be appreciated that a garment, in particular a surgical gown, constructed in accordance with the invention is not limited to any particular type of materials. Conventional materials for forming the body and sleeves of a gown are well known to those skilled in the art, and any such material may be used for a gown in accordance with the present invention. Likewise, there are a number of elastomeric extensible materials used in the art that may serve adequately as the extensible material patches for use in the present invention. Examples of such materials will be described in greater detail below.
The garment according to the invention may have a conventional body configuration. For example, the garment may have a closed front portion that is made from a first panel of material and an open back portion defined by back panels that are attached to the first panel of material alongside the seams of the garment. In an alternate embodiment, the garment may have front and back portions formed from a single piece of material. The style and configuration of the garments is not a limiting factor. Regardless of the type of garment, once the areas of maximum stress or tensile force are mapped and identified, extensible material patches may be incorporated into the gown at these areas.